Towards the end of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's run-through of their old album Howl, bassist Robert Levon Been told the crowd the "pain was nearly over". By BRMC standards that's a wisecrack, referencing the gloomy, pared-back tone of that 2005 release, but some of the Glasgow audience seemed to have experienced it for real, having headed for either the bar or exits as the set progressed.
That is partly on them, given the show was clearly advertised in advance as a 20th anniversary revisitation of Howl. However, it is unquestionably an album that was an odd pick to play in full, lacking many obvious crowd-pleasers, beyond the early and enjoyable swamp-blues stomp of "Ain't No Easy Way". Levon Been himself has talked of the album being career sabotage, and it certainly sits oddly with much of the group's repertoire. Crucially, the stripped-down flavour of the songs left drummer Leah Shapiro - not a band member when the original album was record - restrained. A terrific and propulsive player, her energy was badly missed at times in the first half of this lengthy near two-hour set, with the band playing, as always, amid mist and darkness.
Not that all these songs were bad, by any means. The folksy tone of "Fault Line" was pleasing and the piano-led "Promise" had a bluesy heart beating underneath it, offering a reminder that the band's decision to expand musical horizons beyond atmospheric rock had positive points. However, the limitations of revisiting an album in full, even out of order as performed here, also meant that more middling material had to be endured. The likes of a droning "The Line" - an album closer that was here served up midway through and lasted several tedious moments - and the moody "Restless Sinner" struggled to generate much excitement.
Levon Been, the only band member who talked, with his partner in crime Peter Hayes silent all night, said the album had been underappreciated upon release in 2005, but not enough songs here were able to suggest that was an unfair designation. It was only when the group furiously tore into the heavily distorted noise of "Gospel Song" that an unheralded track really soared above its origins.
Thankfully, there was still time for a trip through other corners of the back catalogue after that, and the group played it safe, offering several of their most popular and loudest songs. It was effective though: an ominous "Red Eyes and Tears", a battering rock-n-roller in "Berlin", and the typically chunky bass of "Spread Your Love" sounded gigantic.
The buzzsaw cry of "Whatever Happened To My Rock N' Roll (Punk Song)" still thrashed with excitable energy, and meant the closing batch of songs carried some real momentum. Sated by that outburst of noise, a trip back to Howl for the closing "Open Invitation" felt refreshing, and gave a fittingly melancholic finale to a mixed evening.
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